Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Says JRPGs Will Be Coming to the Xbox One

Xbox fans who love Japanese games are feeling the full brunt of the country not buying into the console. After all, why would any company want to develop games for a console its main audience does not buy? Japan’s best companies have always insinuated that they make games for Japanese fans first and everyone else second. Recent times have showed that doing otherwise spells nothing but trouble.

With the exception of the incoming Square Enix games, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy XV, and Final Fantasy Type-o HD, Microsoft’s Xbox One is decidedly lacking in Japan’s most popular export, the JRPG genre. Unfortunately, not every franchise out there has the widespread appeal of Square Enix’s marquee library, or else other companies would surely be developing for both consoles.

Does Microsoft plan on fixing this gaping hole in its library? You betcha! In fact, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer says it “will” happen in a reply to a fan’s question on the matter.

In all fairness to the Xbox One, though, it is not alone with the recent decline in great JRPG software. The current generation console scene in its entirety is in desperate need of a boost. The PlayStation 4 has Persona 5 inbound this year for Japan, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the PlayStation 3 version to be the better selling of the two in its home country. I’m betting on a PS Vita version shortly afterwards as well.

The point is if you’re a fan of JRPGs, then why are you gaming on a high end console? The PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS are rocking the genre like it hasn’t been rocked since the days of the PlayStation 2. The likes of Etrian Odyssey, Fire Emblem, Persona, Crimson Shroud, Bravely Default, Shin Megami Tensei, Ys, and even Dragon Quest have issued in a while new generation of classics just begging to be played and discovered by the masses.

That’s not even counting the Nintendo DS and PSP libraries you can play thanks to backwards compatibility.

Even if Phil Spencer’s promise comes true, it will be hard to catch up with the massive head start the handheld scene has going for it. I’m not saying don’t look forward to bigger and better things, just don’t sit idly by and wait in the meantime.